Since being diagnosed in June with liver cancer, Chuang Ming-yao, 73, had been in and out of the hospital. Despite their best efforts, doctors at at the Taipei Veterans General Hospital were unable to stop the cancer spread.
"Chuang was a respected man, a very hard-working individual," said Wu Shi-wen (
"If he [Chuang] took as good care of his health as he did with his work, he would still be alive," Wu added.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
On behalf of President Chen Shui-bian (
Yu said that the Presidential Office would help Chuang's family take care of Chuang's funeral arrangements.
Chuang was highly regarded by both Chen and former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) due to his military experience and his expertise in Japan-related affairs.
Chuang's career included service as commander of 142nd fleet, the president of the navy's non-commissioned officers' school, the chief-of-staff at Navy General Headquarters, vice minister of national defense and the first Taiwanese ever to hold the position of naval commander-in-chief.
Though Chuang ended his military career by stepping down as naval commander-in-chief after the murder case of naval captain Yin Ching-feng (
In 1996, Chuang served as Taiwan's de facto-ambassador to Japan and when Chen assumed the presidency in May 2000, Chuang was tapped by Chen to return to Taiwan to serve as secretary-general of the National Security Council.
The Yin murder case brought the Lafayette frigate weapons procurement scandal to the surface, during which military officials and arms brokers were jailed on charges including bribery and leaking military secrets.
The murder case, which remains unsolved, had dogged Chuang whenever frequent rumors citing Chuang's relationship to Yin surfaced.
Many believe that Chuang, though not directly involved in the murder, as the navy's top official must have harbored information related to the murder case.
In August of last year, Chen re-designated Chuang to head the Association of East Asian Relations to take advantage of his expertise and relations with prominent figures in Japan.
"Coming from a military background, Chuang made remarkable use of his decision-making and maneuvering skills in dealing with diplomatic affairs," said Chu Wen-ching (
Chu said that through Chuang's effort and diplomacy skill, "he contributed much to the advancement of relations between Taiwan and Japan."
Examples such as the 1998 resumption of air travel between Taipei and Osaka, which had been terminated after the two nations cut diplomatic ties in 1972, as well as the Japanese government's decision to loosen restrictions on Taiwanese tourists' multiple-entry visas, well illustrate his diplomatic capacity.
Chu said that it was through Chuang's lobbying efforts that when Chinese President Jiang Zemin (
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
DRONE CENTRAL: Taiwan aims to become Asia’s democratic hub for drones, with most exports focused on high-quality military-grade models, an official said Taiwan’s drone industry is expected to expand significantly by 2030, producing 100,000 units per month and exporting half of them, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Current drone production capacity is about 15,000 units per month, but the industry can quickly scale up as demand increases, Industrial Development Administration Director-General Chiou Chyou-huey (邱求慧) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s drone output grew 2.5-fold last year to NT$12.9 billion (US$408.3 million) under a government program to develop the uncrewed vehicle sector, he said. The Executive Yuan in October last year approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion into domestic production of uncrewed aerial
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
WARNING: China should stop engaging in actions that undermine regional peace and stability, as it would only build resentment among people across the Strait, the CGA said China has deployed more than 100 navy, coast guard and other vessels in waters from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea and the western Pacific since US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met in Beijing, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday. “In this part of the world, #China is the one & only PROBLEM wrecking the #StatusQuo & threatening regional peace & stability,” Wu wrote on X. In a separate post, he said Beijing was coercing Taiwan’s maritime domain, calling it illegal and provocative, after the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) expelled a
RSS